Aron Ralston | Wilderness Conservation

Main navigation

About Aron Ralston

Aron Ralston grew up in Ohio and Indiana before he moved with his family to Colorado in 1987. He received a degree in Mechanical Engineering and French, while also minoring in piano from Carnegie Mellon University. In 2002, Aron Ralston left his mechanical engineering job at Intel and moved to Aspen, Colorado to seek a life of climbing mountains. His ambition was to climb – solo and in winter – all of Colorado’s 59 peaks of over 14,000 feet.

Out on a hike in the secluded area of Utah’s Blue John Canyon in April of 2003, Aron Ralston accidentally knocked a boulder loose that crushed and pinned his hand while descending a slot canyon. Seven miles into the canyon, he spent five days of entrapment alone before freeing himself with a multi-tool knife. Aron documented his experience in his autobiographical memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place, which became the basis for the Oscar-nominated film, 127 Hours, directed by Danny Boyle, and starring actor James Franco.

With a new prosthetic arm that he designed, Aron Ralston returned to his outdoor passions, which quickly grew to encompass protecting the wild-yet-threatened landscapes of Colorado and Utah.

Aron Ralston, Wilderness Conservation

Currently, Aron Ralston lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he advocates for wilderness conservation. As a father of two young children, Aron understands the importance of preserving as much of the natural world as possible for future generations. The projects he supports include The Wilderness Workshop, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and Conservation Colorado. To find out more information about protecting wilderness-quality lands in Colorado and Utah, please see the following links below: